Ponte City Apartments
Ponte City Apartments is a cylindrical high-rise with over 50 floors in Johannesburg. The hollow core in the center allows light to reach lower levels and gives apartments windows on both sides.
The building was designed by Mannie Feldman and Rodney Grosskopff in 1975 to attract wealthy white residents. Starting in 2001, the Kempston Group led a major renovation to restore it after years of neglect.
The tower displays a large neon sign for Vodacom at the top, visible across the city at night and originally used to advertise Coca-Cola. Around 3,000 people now live inside, including young professionals, students, and immigrants from African countries like Congo, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.
The tower sits on the Berea ridge with wide views across the city and is visible from many parts of Johannesburg. Security staff are present around the clock and the organization Dlala Nje offers tours to show the history of the building and neighborhood.
The neon sign on the roof is the largest in the southern hemisphere. The open center was once so filled with trash that residents threw garbage down from their floors before it was completely cleared during renovation.
Location: Johannesburg
Address: Ponte City Apartments, Towers, Berea, Johannesburg, 2198, South Africa
GPS coordinates: -26.19054,28.05706
Latest update: December 4, 2025 15:24
Some buildings have caused waves of criticism when they were built. Their unusual shape, large size, or high cost led to strong reactions. The Louvre pyramid in Paris, with its glass structure in the middle of a classical palace, surprised Parisians in the 1980s. The Guggenheim Museum in New York, with its white concrete spiral, was compared to a washing machine when it opened in 1959. The Montparnasse Tower, which has overlooked the Parisian neighborhood since 1973, even led to a law banning tall buildings in the city. These structures show how modern design can challenge local views and change how a city is seen. Other buildings still cause debate. In Mumbai, the Antilia tower rises 27 floors to hold one family. It shows wealth in a city with many crowded areas. In Pyongyang, the Ryugyong Hotel has stayed unfinished for decades. It’s a empty pyramid with 105 floors, showing big ambitions. In London, the Fenchurch Street skyscraper, called the “Walkie-Talkie” because of its shape, reflects the sunlight so strongly it can melt car parts. Places like these show how some projects raise questions about their purpose beyond looks. They involve space use, money, and how they affect daily life. (Translation in 'es', 'it', 'nl', 'pl', 'pt' fields would be provided similarly based on this pattern, but are left blank here for brevity.)
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